German carmakers have struggled to lift sales since the country’s highest administrative court allowed bans of older diesel vehicles and as regulators introduced tougher emissions tests, catching the likes VW and Audi off guard.

However, KBA said that electric vehicles made up only 1 percent of new car registrations last year, with U.S. carmaker Tesla holding a 0.1 percent market share against market leader VW’s 18.7 percent.

VW sales rose 1.5 percent last year after the German brand struggled to get its vehicles certified for the stricter WLTP emissions testing regime while sister brand Audi’s sales dropped by 9.9 percent.

Sales of diesel cars fell to 32.3 percent of new registrations, down from 38.8 percent in 2017, while petrol cars jumped to 62.4 percent from 57.7 percent.